Carter Ham

United States General

Male

BornFeb 16, 1952

Carter F. Ham is a United States Army general, who serves as the second and current Commander, U.S. Africa Command. In that position, he has been in command of the initial 2011 military intervention in Libya. Ham previously served as Commanding General, U.S. Army Europe and Seventh Army from August 28, 2008 to March 8, 2011. Prior to that, he served as Director for Operations (J-3) at the Joint Staff from August 2007 to August 2008 and the Commanding General, U.S.… Read More

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News + Updates

' Below is from FNC Chad Pergram: \n First a note from Chad, and then the letter from Ranking Member Cummings: \n “Below is a letter from the House Oversight Committee Democrats saying that Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA) is violating committee rules by not taking a “bipartisan” trip to Libya to probe Benghazi. \n However, Issa’s staff will not confirm nor deny any travel by the chairman and declined any comment about the Cummings missive.” \n —— \n September 20, 2013 \n T...

' The former head of U.S. forces in Africa, General <mark>Carter Ham</mark>, told the Aspen Security Forum that it quickly became clear the assault on the American consulate in Benghazi last year was a terrorist attack and not a spontaneous demonstration. '

'\n This week, as President Barack Obama travels to Senegal, South Africa, and Tanzania, he will miss much of America\'s mission creep into the African continent. Not merely in the more obvious military interventions into Libya, Mali or Somalia, or military bases in Niger or Djibouti, but through growing security partnerships in places including Kenya, Nigeria and even Mauritania. Not on President Obama\'s oversight agenda: The troubling ramp up of military and counterterror assistanc...

'\n The U.S. Military and the Unraveling of Africa \n\n Cross-posted with TomDispatch.com \n\n The Gulf of Guinea. He said it without a hint of irony or embarrassment. This was one of U.S. Africa Command’s big success stories. The Gulf... of Guinea. \n Never mind that most Americans couldn’t find it on a map and haven’t heard of the nations on its shores like Gabon, Benin, and Togo. Never mind that just five days before I talked with AFRICOM’s chief spokesman, the Economist had as...

Timeline

CHILDHOOD

TEENAGE

196513 Years Old
He received the rank of Eagle Scout as a youth in 1965 and was bestowed the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award in 2012 from the Boy Scouts of America.

TWENTIES

197422 Years Old
Ham enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1974 and served two years as an infantryman in the 82nd Airborne Division before being accepted in the Army Reserve Officers' Training Corps (Army ROTC) while attending John Carroll University in Cleveland, Ohio.

197624 Years Old
He was commissioned, as an infantry officer, as a Distinguished Military Graduate in 1976.
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He later received his master's degree in National Security and Strategic Studies from the U.S. Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island as well as graduating from several military schools including the Infantry Officer Basic Course, the Armor Officer Advanced Course, the College of Naval Command and Staff of the U.S. Naval War College and the U.S. Air Force Air War College. He is a member of the John Carroll University ROTC Hall of Fame. He and his wife, Christi, are both John Carroll University graduates.<br /><br /> Ham's early assignments included service at Fort Knox, Kentucky and tours of duty in Italy and Germany. After graduating from the Armor Officers Advanced Course, he was a Recruiting Area Commander in Lima, Ohio. Read Less

THIRTIES

198432 Years Old
In 1984, he served with a joint service unit in support of the Olympic Games in Los Angeles. From 1984 until 1989, Ham served as Assistant Inspector General, then as Battalion S-3 and Executive Officer with the Opposing Force at the National Training Center, Fort Irwin, California.

199038 Years Old
He attended the College of Naval Command and Staff, graduating with distinction in 1990, and was then assigned to the U.S. Army Infantry School at Fort Benning, Georgia.
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He served a tour as an advisor with a Saudi Arabian National Guard Brigade in Riyadh as part of OPM-SANG then returned to Fort Benning, where he was the executive officer for the Infantry School. Ham commanded the 1st Battalion, 6th Infantry in Vilseck, Germany including a six-month tour with the United Nations Protection Forces in the Republic of Macedonia. Following battalion command, he was the Senior Observer/Controller of the Timberwolf Team at the Combat Maneuver Training Center, Hohenfels, Germany. Read Less

FORTIES

199745 Years Old
He graduated from the Air War College in 1997 then returned to Germany where he served as G-3, then Chief of Staff, 1st Infantry Division.

199947 Years Old
From 1999 to 2001 he commanded the 29th Infantry Regiment at Fort Benning, then served as Deputy Director, J-8, United States Central Command at MacDill AFB in Tampa, Florida and in Doha, Qatar, during which time he was selected for promotion to Brigadier General.
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Ham was subsequently assigned as the Deputy Commanding General for Training and Readiness, I Corps at Fort Lewis, Wash. in August 2003. Read Less

FIFTIES

200452 Years Old
In January 2004, he assumed command of Multinational Brigade (Task Force Olympia) – North in Mosul, Iraq serving there until February 2005.
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During his time in Iraq, Ham suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, which was caused by his attending the aftermath of a deadly suicide bombing at a mess hall. He later sought treatment for his condition and publicly encouraged other soldiers to do the same.<br /><br /> Returning from Iraq, Ham served as the Deputy Director for Regional Operations, J-3, on The Joint Staff. Read Less

200654 Years Old
Ham assumed command of the 1st Infantry Division at Fort Riley, Kansas in August 2006 and served as the Commanding General until July 2007, returning to The Joint Staff as Director for Operations, J-3.
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On August 28, 2008, Ham became the 34th Commander of the United States Army Europe headquartered at Campbell Barracks, Heidelberg, Germany. In 2010, General Ham served as co-chair for the comprehensive review of issues associated with the repeal of the "Don't ask, don't tell" policy. Read Less

201058 Years Old
The U.S. Senate, in November 2010, confirmed Ham's nomination to become the next Commander of U.S. Africa Command, headquartered at Kelley Barracks, Stuttgart, Germany.

Carter F. Ham (born February 16, 1952) is a United States General who served as the second commander of U.S. Africa Command. Read Less

As commander of Africa Command, he led Operation Odyssey Dawn, the initial U.S. role in the 2011 military intervention in Libya.
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Ham previously served as the Commanding General of the U.S. Army Europe and Seventh Army from August 28, 2008 to March 8, 2011. Prior to that, he served as Director for Operations (J-3) at the Joint Staff from August 2007 to August 2008 and the Commanding General, U.S. 1st Infantry Division from August 2006 to August 2007, and was the commander of Operation Able Sentry in Macedonia in the mid-1990s, during the Yugoslav wars.<br /><br /> Ham was born on February 16, 1952 in Portland, Oregon, and attended Charles F. Brush High School. He holds a B.A. in Political Science from John Carroll University, as well as an M.A. in National Security and Strategic Studies from the Naval War College. Read Less

Ham was in command of U.S. forces enforcing the Libyan no-fly zone, along with Admiral Samuel J. Locklear. Described as "in charge of the coalition effort", Ham on March 21, 2011 said, "there would be coalition airstrikes on Colonel Qaddafi’s mobile air defenses and that some 80 sorties – only half of them by the United States – had been flown on Monday." Admiral Locklear, aboard the flagship Mount Whitney, had tactical command of the Operation Odyssey Dawn joint taskforce. General Ham also said he had “full authority to attack the regime’s forces if they refused to comply with President Obama’s demands that they pull back from Ajdabiya, Misrata and Zawiya," according to one report. Earlier, he said that the United States was not working with the Libyan rebels. “Our mission is not to support any opposition forces,” Ham said by video feed to the Pentagon from his headquarters in Stuttgart. Read Less

LATE ADULTHOOD

201260 Years Old
Ham was in overall command of military forces when the September 11, 2012 terrorist attacks were launched on the American consulate and CIA annex in Benghazi, Libya.
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Congressman Trey Gowdy who led the Congressional investigation into the attacks stated that Carter Ham acknowledges that he altered President Obama and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta's order to deploy to Benghazi to rescue American personnel, and redirected the deployment to Tripoli, Libya instead.<br /><br /> After a normal 24-month tour of duty as Commander, U.S. Africa Command, General Ham was succeeded by General David M. Rodriguez. General Ham retired in June 2013.<br /><br /> Ham was quoted in an online Washington Post article by Greg Miller and Craig Whitlock, posted on October 1, 2012, that, as saying, that, as a result of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb's overtaking and capturing more territory in Mali in Africa, and possessing arms from Libya after the Libyan Civil War which overthrew Muammar Gaddafi, there is the possibility of the U.S. assisting, but not leading, counterterrorism operations done by other countries. A more radical step would be the use of drones. Read Less